Oil-retaining device for bearings.



0. P. FRITCHLE.

OIL RETAINING DEVICE FOR BEARINGS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR;10,1914.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

I To all whom it may concern:

PAT'T er otrvnn rirnrrcnnn, or pnnvnn, coroner o.

orL-nn'rarmNe environ iron. nnenrnes.

meager,

s peeiiicationnt Letters lEfatent. I "Pwtgntmdl D ag, 2%,, 11191115Application flledl'tltarcn m nt. aerial Ito tttett.

Be it known that I, Omvnn P. Fma'on'nn,

a citizen of the United States, residing'at Denver, inthe county ofDenver and State of Colorado, have inventedcertain new and usefulImprovements 'in Oil-Retaining Devices for Bearings,'of which thefollowing is'a specificatiom This invention r'elatesto devices for retaining lubricating-oil in bearings, and particula-rly to such devicesas are required,

for instance, in motor-vehicles to prevent, the exudation-of the oil"andentrance of dust and dirt.

Heretofore, in motor-vehicles and especially inthose of the Worm=drivetype, where, as is Well known, an abundance of oil" is absolutelynecessary for successful. operation, attempts have been made to provideretainers of felt about the revolving shaft beyond the bearings forpreventing issue of the oil and the admission of dust.

These retainers are not satisfactory for the.

reason that they wear out rapidly, and furthermore cause considerablefriction, if sufficiently tight pn shafts running at high speeds.

The'object of this invention is to provide.

a retainer which is simple .in construction,

yet free of the aforementioned objections, and which may be used eitheron plain or ball-bearing, shafts.

Briefly, the improved device comprises one or more retaining orlock-rings secured to the casing of the shaft just be end the bearineachring being 'provi ed interiorlywit adished or cut-away'surface,.andone or more tapered disks rigidly secured upon the rotating shaft-andhaving their outer surfaces conforming in shape to the inner dishedfaces of the adjacent retaining or lock-rings, theinner faces of theserotating disks being flat and in a plane at substan tially right-anglesto the axis of the shaft." The arrangement of the parts is such that,

when assembled, the-outer faces of the ro-' tating disks are very closeto or even abut-,-

ting the inner dished facesof the ad'acent lock-rings,'so that anycreeping of t e. oil

aroundthe disks in excess of that'required to avoid-undue frictionbetween the parts is prevented, this outward movement of theoil beingalso checked by the'centrifugal force with' which it meets in attemptingto v work -its way into the confined space be tween a, rotating disk anditsa'djacent 're taming-ring. The oil isfthus kept back in its properplace aroundfthe bearings, and

all dust and dirt .is efil'ectively excludedw Spacing-rings are provided'to maintain the spaced, and a lock-nut secures the partsin place on theshaft. 1 y

One embodiment of the invention is shown inthe accompanying-drawing,wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal view, partly in section and partly inelevation,- of the driving-shaft and'bearing of a,. worm-'driveautomobile, provided-with the new oil-retaining device; and Figi 2 is anenlarged similar view of a bearing having disks. of a somewhatdifi'erent shape.

retaining-rings and the disks properly In the drawing, the numeral 1-indicates the driving-shaft of a motor-vehicle, ex-

tending from the torsion-tube 2 downward and into the lower portion of aclosed gear-.

casing 3 in which it'turnsin suitable bearings'qt In a-neck 5 of thegear-casing is secured, as by bolts 6, 6,a flanged sleeve 7 servingamong other things to maintain the parts of the thrust-bearing 8 inplace. 'The interior of the outerend of this sleeve is threaded, and anintegral partition 9 preferably extends inward from its central portion.Secured upon the shaft 1 and revoluble therewith are tapered disks 10,10, spaced from each other and from inner and outer lock-n tsll and.12-by suitable. s acingare so thin as compared with the depth of thepockets in the r1'n thatrelativelyllarge oil-spaces 15 are. left tweenthe inner vertical faces of the disks l0 and the outer vertical face ofthe next inner ring it, or

the'outer face of the partition 9, as the case may be. These-annularchambers 15 thus form oil-channels which serve to. collect any oil fromthe hearing or the gear-case findsloping facesof the "disks 10whichzdisks the next inner disk. The lock-nut 12 serves to secure theparts in proper position.

The operation of the device will be readily understood from theforegoing description. Any oil from the gearcasing, which, as indicatedin the drawing, must be in a quantity sufficient to flood the worm andthe shaft-bearings, finding its way past the partition 9 or the first ofthe locking-rings 14 will lodge in the next outer oil-space 15, and dueto the close engagement between the outer faces of the disks 10 and theinner cut out faces of the retaining-rings 14, practically no oil ispermitted to pass around the disks in excess of that actually requiredto prevent too great friction between the'abutting surfaces. Asufficient quantity for this purpose will work around the disks onaccount of their very slight flexibility due to their thinness. Anyamount above this will be excluded by virtue ofthe closeness of thedisks and rings, or will be thrust back because of the increasedcentrifugal force exerted upon it in the confined space between therevolving disks and the adjacent retaining-rings.

A simple and remarkably effective device is thus produced; and, as willbe obvious, the invention is equally applicable to plainbearings, theball-bearing shown in the drawing merely for the purpose of illustrationhaving nothing to do with the operation of the oil-retaining means,'-per86.

In Fig. 2 a somewhat simpler bearing for a driving-shaft is shown, andthe disks illustrated in this instance are quoit-shaped, their outerfaces 16 being curved instead of flat, as in Fig. 1. Of course, in suchcase the inner cut out faces of the retaining-rings are also curved toconform thereto.

It may be thought advisable in some instances to provide oil-retainingdevices on both sides of a bearing. Such a duplication of parts is ofcourse within the scope of the present invention, although not shown inthe drawing.

I am aware that oil-retaining devicesknown as slingers have heretoforebeen patented, and that broadly it is not new to keep oil in bearings ofother types by means of centrifugal force generated by a disk secured.to a revolving shaft, but the devices heretofore known are notapplicable to Worm-drives where the gearing and bearings are completelyimmersed in oil, and the working parts are necessarily entirelyinclosed.

I claim 1 An oil-retainer for worm-gear casings of motor-vehicles,comprising. a revoluble shaft, a closed casing about said shaft, ringssecured within said casing around said shaft, said rings having dishedinner faces, disks secured to said revoluble shaft lying in the dishedportions of said rings and having their outer faces conforming in shapeto and in close engagement with the inner faces of said rings, andannular oil-chambers adjacent the inner faces of said disks.

2. An oil-retainer for worm-gear casings of motor-vehicles, comprising arevoluble shaft, a closed casing about said shaft, rings secured withinsaid casing around said shaft, said rings having dished inner faces,disks secured to said revoluble shaft lying in the dished portions ofsaid rings and having their outer faces conforming in shape to and lyingagainst the inner faces of said rings, annular oil-chambers adjacent theinner faces of said disks, spacing members on said shaft between saiddisks, and a lock-nut on said shaft for maintaining said spacing membersand said disks in place.

3. An, oil-retainer for worm-gear casings of motor-vehicles, comprisinga revoluble shaft, a closed casing about said shaft, rings securedwithin said casing around said shaft,

said rings having dished inner faces, tapered disks secured to saidrevoluble shaft lying wholly within the dished portions of said ringsand having their outer faces conforming in shape to and. in closeengagement with the inner faces of said rings, and annular oil-chambersin said rings adjacent the inner faces of said disks. I

4. An oil-retainer for worm-gear casings of motor-vehicles, comprising arevoluble shaft, a closed casing about said shaft, rings secured withinsaid casing around said shaft, each of said rings having a dished innerface terminating peripherally in an outwardly curved portion, diskssecured to said revoluble shaft lying in the dished portions of saidrings and having their outer faces conforming in shape to and in closeengagement with the inner faces of said rings, and

annular oil-chambers adjacent the inner faces of said disks andcircumferentially inclosed by the curved portions of said rings. Intestimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- OLIVER P. FR'ITCHLE.

Witnesses:

A. P. EDWARDS, A. R. BIDDER.

